She rarely wore clothes and never worked
— Paul takes the form of a mortal girl by Andrea Lawlor (Page 170)
Paradise
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@vivavaleria@eldritch.cafe on the mammooth site. Reading mostly wlw rom-coms, with the occasional exceptions. I try to rotate languages, but it isn't really easy to find queer romance books in other languages than English. Reviews and comments usually in the same language as the book.
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2025 Reading Goal
50% complete! Enum & Valerie has read 15 of 30 books.
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Wenigstens voll mit REWE-Werbung
Enum & Valerie reviewed Tatort Ponyhof by Jule Ambach (Die drei !!!)
Der Luisenhof muss gerettet werden! Das steht für Kim, Franzi und Marie fest, denn hier …
1, 2, 3 - Power!
2 stars
Cringe, flach und sexistisch.
Enum & Valerie reviewed The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers and …
American view on Europe
2 stars
Let me first stress how fucking American this is. The entire book plays during a “European Food and Wine Tour”, with the following stops: London, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Because, of course, food and wine culture only exists in France, Northern Spain, Italy and .... London.
Oh, no, excuse me, London is not a proper stop on this tour. There's no food and wine served in London. The tour only starts in London, and the first thing they do on the tour is a bus ride to Paris. Wait what? Who the fuck travels to London first, if the real start is Paris? One of the protagonists actually even lives in Paris, but travels to London for the tour start and the bus ride to Paris. Holy hell.
Of course, there are Europeans on the tour (from …
Let me first stress how fucking American this is. The entire book plays during a “European Food and Wine Tour”, with the following stops: London, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Because, of course, food and wine culture only exists in France, Northern Spain, Italy and .... London.
Oh, no, excuse me, London is not a proper stop on this tour. There's no food and wine served in London. The tour only starts in London, and the first thing they do on the tour is a bus ride to Paris. Wait what? Who the fuck travels to London first, if the real start is Paris? One of the protagonists actually even lives in Paris, but travels to London for the tour start and the bus ride to Paris. Holy hell.
Of course, there are Europeans on the tour (from Sweden, Norway and Germany), totally stereotyped, and the author tried to incorporate words from the respective languages. And failed. No, Casey, Swedish does not have the character ü. Did you not have any editors and ARC readers?
Of course, Swedes, Norwegians and Germans are the totally typical audience of a "European Food and Wine Tour" that pretends European Food and Wine only exists in France, Spain and Italy. And totally the typical audience for a tour that starts with a bus ride from London to Paris, because Swedes, Norwegians and Germans don't know shit about European geography.
And of course everyone's bisexual in Europe. Okay, well, I love a queer-normative world, but the literally say "everyone's bisexual on a European vacation", as if that's somehow a Europe-specific property. Come on....
But mostly, I am just disappointed. I learned to love McQuiston's books "One Last Stop" and "I Kissed Shara Wheeler", with really creative and amazing plots that I love. This one however, is really uninspired.
Enum & Valerie quoted The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers and …
Having spent [...] my adulthood either studying artistic nudes or living in Paris, nudity doesn't faze me.
— The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (Page 274)
Ah yes, Paris does that, doesn't it.
Enum & Valerie quoted The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers and …
“Nobody's straight on a European vacation.” “Sounds like you're speaking from experience,” I observe, picturing Kit picking up tourists at bars in Montmartre. “Historic precedent. They switch everyone to bisexual at passport control.”
— The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (Page 80)
Enum & Valerie quoted The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers and …
My favourite girl in England, so nice for kissing, but we could not be together. Allergic to garlic!
— The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (Page 20)
Enum & Valerie quoted The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers and …
Initiating slut mode.
— The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (Page -3)
Enum & Valerie reviewed Isola by Isabel Abedi
Zwölf Jugendliche, drei Wochen allein auf einer einsamen Insel vor Rio de Janeiro - als …
Jugenderinnerungen
4 stars
Ich erinnere mich noch genau, wie ich dieses Buch früher im Sommer-Lese-Club der lokalen Bücherei verschlungen habe, und ich habs damals geliebt. Als ich es dann Ende letzten Jahres unter den aussortierten Büchern einer anderen Bücherei gesehen habe, musste ich es einfach mitnehmen, und nochmal lesen ♥
Enum & Valerie reviewed Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan
Disappointing
3 stars
I like the characters, but the story itself is not really that good. A chosen one? The only one in the world? Looking for a magical sword? How creative. "Darker by Four", by the same author, was soo soo much better.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Not Just Gal Pals by Elizabeth Luly
Jenny Lynton never planned to be an influencer. It just sort of...happened. When an unfortunate …
Cute but not outstanding at all
3 stars
It's basically the most standard romance novel you can imagine, and there's not really any creative plot ideas.
Enum & Valerie Setze das Ziel, 2025 40 Bücher zu lesen
When 'messy witch' Morgan Greenwood drunkenly offers to fake date her dream woman Rory Sandler …
“I'd probably end up convincing Hazel she was a tree or something.”
— This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin (Page 37)
Fluttershy is not a tree, Dashie!
Enum & Valerie quoted Ghostsmith by Nicki Pau Preto (House of the Dead, #2)
In this action-packed finale to the House of the Dead Duology, Wren and her friends …
"Some girls are more into swords than boys," Mercy said sagely
— Ghostsmith by Nicki Pau Preto (House of the Dead, #2) (Page 418)
okay lesbian :*
Enum & Valerie reviewed Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?
When …
The bar is too high
4 stars
This is a good book, for what it is. However, not much of it is really unique and mindfuckingly excellent. In fact, Casey McQuiston's other books, specifically One Last Stop and I Kissed Shara Wheeler, are full of such amazing ideas and moments, that Red, White & Royal Blue just cannot keep up. They've set the bar too high.
Then again, AFAIK, Red, White & Royal Blue is McQuiston's first book, so one could see this as evidence that they only get better and better.